Glazed Ginger Shortbread

Glazed Ginger Shortbread
Adapted from David Lebovitz by Blue Heron Kitchen

David Lebovitz writes that these cookies were inspired by the Ginger Crunch recipe from a cookbook called “The Edmonds Cookery Book”, first published in 1908. Edmonds is a company in New Zealand that produces baking powder. Please check out David's blog (you can link to it under "The Mother Blogs"). You'll want to subscribe.

If you love ginger and butter (or with options to further enhance flaor with cardamom or rose), you’ll adore these. And Ginger Rogers?  Yuz honors, I rest my case:

The glaze calls for Lyle’s (or other brand) golden syrup. Most U.S. markets are growing up and are selling this wonderful syrup from the U.K. If you can’t find it, try some dark corn syrup. If you’re opposed or don’t have any, you can fool around with honey or rice syrup. Agave’s okay, but it’s kind of runny and thin. If you’re committed to Agave, use the darker one.

Use a 13- by 4-inch (34cm x 10cm) rectangular tart pan with a removable bottom. If you don’t have this size, use one that renders similar area. You can use an 8-inch (20cm) square cake pan or a 20 x 30 centimeter rectangular pan, but if you do, line the bottom with a wide piece of foil leaving an overhang over the sides of the pan, then smoothing the sides and buttering the inside. Once the bars are finished, you should be able to lift the foil (and the bars) from the pan easily.

If the dough is giving you a hard time and won't come together, dampen your hands and knead the dough until it does. (It doesn’t need to be perfect.) Transfer the dough to the pan and use the heel of your hand to press it evenly into the bottom. Remember, you're the boss.

Ingredients:

Cookie base
4 1/2 ounces (9 tablespoons, 125g) unsalted butter, room temperature [it should be very soft - truc: to hasten this process, cut butter into slices.]
1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g) [I used sugar infused and perfumed with cardamom ... see below*]
1 1/2 cup (210g) unbleached all-purpose flour [I use King Arthur brand]
1 teaspoon baking powder [Rumford brand - aluminum free. Be sure it's fresh.]
1 1/2 teaspoons ground dried ginger [Be sure it's fresh. In the U.S., Penzey's is a good resource.]

Icing
2 1/2 ounces (5 tablespoons, 75g) butter, salted or unsalted [if you use unsalted, add a pinch of salt; it’s better with some salt.]
2 tablespoons Lyle’s Golden Syrup [available at better markets, markets with “International” aisles (it’s European!) or online at Amazon.com]
3/4 cup (90g) powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon ground dried ginger

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC.) Butter a 13-inch rectangular tart pan or another pan (see above).

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or by hand in a large bowl, make the cookie base by creaming the butter with the sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger.

3. Mix the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture until well-combined. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead it until the dough is relatively smooth. (If the dough is dry, dampen your hands to add a bit of moisture.)

4. Press the dough into the prepared pan and flatten the surface.

5. Bake the dough for 15-20 minutes, until it’s light golden brown.

6. Five to ten minutes before the dough is done, making the icing by heating the 2 1/2 ounces of butter and golden syrup in a small pan, then mix in the sifted (ALWAYS sifted!) powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon ginger, stirring until smooth.

7. When you take the shortbread out of the oven, pour the warm icing over the cookie base. Let sit for about 20 to 30 minutes, then remove from the pan and slice while still slightly warm.

I sliced them in accordance with the pan’s fluting, so with this tart pan, the recipe yielded about two dozen fairly thin cookies. You can slice them thicker if you want to, say, sell them in an independent coffee shop.

 * To make cardamom sugar: use a glass jar and pour about 1/3 of the way up with granulated sugar, add whole green cardamom (about one heaping tablespoon), pour another 1/3 of the way up and add another heaping tablespoon. Close the jar and in a few days, your sugar will be infused! The sugar will ‘keep’ for six months to a year. It’s great in recipes like this one, or sprinkled on top of scones or biscuits. 
For rose sugar: follow directions above, replacing cardamom with edible, dried rose buds. Rose sugar is gorgeous. You'll use it in butter cookies, buttercream, meringue and la vie en..xo